Keepers

[pipfan]

I think we have a lot of keepers right now. The new cap situation is perfect for us-lots of cap space for us, not much around the league due to so many bad contracts. I think the new economics in the NBA will restrict mid-tier players earning greatly-a guy like Grant will take $4 million a year-better than the miniumum

So, how many keepers beyond 2019 do we currently have? I argue

Lauri-obviously
Lavine-there are doubters, but I see him as an All Star second option and would pay him 4/$100 million this summer-who will offer more?
Dunn-I love Dunn and think he is a future marginal All Star
Grant-I think Grant is a great back up PG and we should keep him
Nwaba-we all love him, and should sign him this summer (4 years/$16 million-team option for 4th)-again, who will pay more?
Valentine-very good bench wing

Maybe keepers
Portis-good backup big, but I don't like his game and I hate flexing stuff
Lopez-I would keep him next year as a mentor to JJJ/Bamba, then let him walk-but he is solid
Zipser-harmless as a deep bench player
Vonleh-I'd keep him over Portis and sign him cheap

Non Keepers
Holiday-playing well but we will have better options moving forward
Payne-God, no
Felicio-I figure we are stuck with him
Ryan A-dime-a-dozen 3rd PG
Asik-harmless to keep for a year, then let him walk

[League Circles]

You list 6 keepers and 4 maybe keepers. You list Lopez as a maybe keeper beyond 2019 but then say we should let him walk.

I say Lauri so far and that's it. I'm pretty optimistic on Dunn and a little less so on Lavine.

If we have 10 keepers then the team is nearly set long term. I don't know how that could be seen as the case.

[Ctownbulls]

Lauri

[Ice Man]

Lauri and Dunn. Not sure about Dunn yet, but certainly wish to see him for another year, with good health I hope. Zach for the right price. After that, there are guys I like, but I don't think this team's future will change if they are here or not.

[ImSlower]

Lauri.

LaVine might get offered IT's brinks truck elsewhere and our FO declines to match - but I highly doubt that. I assume he is here, just not a lock.

I am not nearly as bullish (hah) on Dunn as a lot of guys here are. Maybe he figures out a more team-oriented game, but I don't see a high usage all-star there. I bet he stays as well.

Nwaba looks great for 15 minutes a game, and boy would I love if he pulled a Butler and developed a jumper. I will never like Portis. Valentine looks like a mistake extension if we re-up on him. I loathe Felicio and am still grossed out by that contract.

Bottom line, these guys look good when they play good, but that's true of about anyone in the league. We will know more come draft day what our team might look like in 2 years. For now, Lauri is it for guys I really hope stick around permanently.

[Bulls_Fan]

Lauri and Dunn.

If we are about competing for a title then the list of current keepers is super short.

[kyrv]

In three years history tells us that we will likely have very few if any players remaining from this team.

I know from previous rebuilds we love to identify keepers but it's incredibly fluid.

Let me ask this question, how many untouchables are on the team? Zero. Lauri is likely the least likely to be traded without a top player coming back.

[Lauri_Legend]

Dunn, Lavine, Markkanen, and Nwaba.

Denzel is a nice piece to keep but isn't a must-have

[Axolotl]

Lauri and Dunn. Not sure about Dunn yet, but certainly wish to see him for another year, with good health I hope. Zach for the right price. After that, there are guys I like, but I don't think this team's future will change if they are here or not.

My thoughts exactly.

[WindyCityBorn]

Lauri, LaVine, Dunn. That's it. I think all three can be starters for us on teams that win a championship.

None of them are proven though so this is just my opinion of their potential and whether I believe they can reach it.

I think Portis could be a keep as another stretch big paired Lauri seems like a great frontcourt to use in spurts at a minimum. And he's very young too.

[GDRO10]

Lauri, LaVine and Dunn. If you can keep Portis, Valentine and Nwaba in affordable contracts it's ok, but the only must-have pieces are the three we got from the JB deal.

[drosestruts]

I would trade anyone on the roster if I thought the deal made sense.

[sco]

This is one of those "helpful" questions that spurs debate because the answer is "IT DEPENDS".

It depends on:
1) How do you define keeper? Some guys I'd keep if I could resign them at a fair price like Zach, Bobby and Nwaba (even RoLo and Holiday)
2) What is the opportunity cost of keeping them? If I couldn't sign Kawhi because I paid-up for Zach...I think differently. Alternatively, if signing Zach makes us that "one player away" team that attracts Kawhi, I think differently again.
3) Will there be another super draft, where dumping everyone except Lauri is gonna get us "the next guy"...you get the picture.

[WindyCityBorn]

Lauri, LaVine and Dunn. If you can keep Portis, Valentine and Nwaba in affordable contracts it's ok, but the only must-have pieces are the three we got from the JB deal.

Yep I believe in all three guys we got for Butler. They have all shown me enough to want to keep them around for at least 2 to 4 years and see how this develops.

[Mamba4Goat]

As an outsider, I say there's 4-5. I think everyone from the Butler trade should be keepers. (Dunn, Lavine, Lauri) I also would consider Portis and Valentines as potential keepers.

[Hangtime84]

Lauri - Keep

Trade Dunn in get Luka

[RoyalNBA]

Lauri is definitive. Dunn and LaVine are moderately safe - assuming at the right price and we get good value on their contracts. I would really like Zach become the player we all know he could be. Also, whoever we select in the first round this year will probably be a safe bet on being here after 2019.

[pipfan]

What about Grant, Nwaba, Valentine? GM's are smart now-no one will throw them big $. If the FO is patient, keep them as great bench pieces. That is my definition of a keeper-worth it, assuming nothing crazy happens

[GimmeDat]

Depends how you define 'keeper'. As far as I'm concerned we have 3 pillars - Markkanen, Lavine and Dunn.

Then, in the 2nd tier, there's Bobby. Legitimately young and legitimately solid, but plays behind Markkanen and with RFA coming up in the not-too-distant future (2019), we should at least explore the market for him.

3rd tier, I have Valentine. Solid role player having a good year in only his sophomore season, but 24 without a high ceiling due to his athletic limitations. Nice to have but ultimately expendable in my eyes.

4th tier, Nwaba and Grant. Proven to be solid 2nd unit players but league wise that's pretty dime a dozen. If you can keep them cheaply, no reason not to, but not enough of a hot commodity to fork out any substantial cap for.

Potentially 3rd or 4th tier guys - Blakeney, Vonleh and Payne. These guys have yet to really get an opportunity, but hopefully will post-ASW. Blakeney's super young and deserves his NBA chance, has NBA athleticism and scoring ability. Vonleh is a recent top 10 pick already with high level rebounding and solid defense. He's 22, only a year older than Blakeney, and Blazers fans think he didn't get enough of an opportunity but showed promise. Also deserves a shot. Payne might be the joke of this 3, but again, another former lottery pick, he had a good rookie season, and I'm not ready to rule out his ability to become a contributor, though I am skeptical after his injuries and subsequent poor play. Based on his rookie season I would've said he was going to turn out a much better player than Grant. Unlikely at this point, but it's been made clear that he'll get his shot this season.

I've left the vets out of the equation because they're not in the long term plans. RoLo and Holiday are solid vets on and off the court but get in the way of young guys playing time, and Felicio is overpaid junk that at best may look like a serviceable backup again. I can't believe for a team so high on their 'flexibility' and that refused to take on more salary for picks beyond the Asik deal, that they went and spent 32mil on Felicio.

My answer's 3, based on the pillars. All the other solid players should be retained, at the right price.

[tunit213]

0, really? There are 2 people that need to get their eyes checked.